Romans week 1

This week we start reading sections from the letter to the Romans.  Romans differs from the rest of Paul’s letters, in that he hasn’t been to the Church in Rome. The rest of the letters are written to churches where Paul has been, and often churches that Paul began. So Paul begins by introducing himself -  not with a physical description, but setting out his credentials, a servant of Jesus Christ, an apostle; and also sets that in the bigger picture of  the prophets and David.

Did you ever have a pen pal? What did you tell them about yourself?

I wonder how you would introduce yourself to a group of people who hadn’t met you yet?

A group of people you wanted to visit?

The church in Rome is likely to be a mixture of people from both Jewish and gentile backgrounds.

Paul is wanting to visit the church in Rome, one reason is to use Rome as a staging point to spread the gospel into Spain. For that he needs support and money, so it is important that he lets the people know that he is trustworthy, and of the shared foundations of the Christian faith.  [i]

Listen as we hear a slightly different version of the reading. Jan is Paul writing his letter, Dick is saying what Paul may be thinking as he writes.  

       Creative reading [Spill the Beans]

 

Rather than trying to cover the whole section this morning, I will reflect on a few words and phrases, hopefully this will help as we read more of Romans in the next few weeks.

Righteousness of God – often we think of people who are righteous as some people who are respectable and with high morals. But here Paul writes of the righteousness of God – and that isn’t about morals or respectability. The righteousness of God is about God’s faithfulness, that is God keeps God’s promises.

Another word that Paul uses a lot is faith.  Faith that witnesses to the good news, faith that encourages, faith that isn’t a belief system, but a response to God’s faithfulness.

And Gospel or Good news:

The gospel is not a doctrine or a creed, but a living message with power to change lives.[ii] The living message of Jesus Christ himself. The gospel is Jesus, not words about Jesus, but Jesus. And the Gospel is founded on the righteousness of God – God’s faithfulness.

 We live in a time when we are the centre of our own little universe – things like selfies and  technology that allows you to see only that which you agree with.

But the gospel is not  ‘me’ centred – it is God centred. The Christian life has God’s faithfulness as a foundation, and the transforming power of Jesus Christ transforming and challenging and living in us.  

The righteousness and faithfulness of God call for a response in our lives, as does the good news of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. But the gospel is not our response.

Our response is to live out Gods calling – for Paul that was to be an evangelist to the Gentiles; what is your calling?

That is serious question: God calls each of us – not only ministers and evangelists and missionaries, but all of us.

And we need each other to encourage us in our calling.

“For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.”

Mutually encouraged by each other’s faith?

How might we do this?

Christianity is a God-centred, Christ powered faith – with a foundation of God’s righteousness –

how do we respond to God’s faithfulness?

How do we respond to the living good news of Jesus?

---

[i] RevGalBlogPals Narrative Lectionary: Something to Write Home About (Romans 1:1-17)

 

[ii] Spill the Beans

Micah judgement and restoration

Please look up Micah in the Bibles in the church.

what can you tell me about this book?  - it is written as poetry

As with last week’s reading, we are in the time of the divided kingdom. Last week we heard of Elisha, a prophet from the Northern Kingdom in about the 9^th century before Jesus was born.

Today we heard from the prophet Micah, who was in Judah, the southern kingdom, about 150 years after the time of Elisha.

Micah was a from a small town, Moresheth, about 25 miles from Jerusalem.  While some of the prophets spoke only against either Judah or Israel, Micah spoke against both kingdoms. Micah spoke out about the injustice he saw. The book of Micah gives a message of judgement against the oppressors, who were the rich and powerful. He speaks of the punishment of God for both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. Some thought Jerusalem would never fall, that the southern Kingdom would remain untouched by the turmoil that engulfed the Northern kingdom. The Northern Kingdom was invaded in 735 BCE and the people scattered in 721 BCE. Micah spoke of the judgement of God, even against the temple practices which had become self-serving. Micah also speaks of the salvation of a remnant of Israel.[i][i]

Let’s take a look at 3: 1- 3 [The Message]

“Listen, leaders of Jacob, leaders of Israel:
Don’t you know anything of justice?
Haters of good, lovers of evil:
Isn’t justice in your job description?
But you skin my people alive.
You rip the meat off their bones.
You break up the bones, chop the meat,
and throw it in a pot for cannibal stew.” 

 - remember this is poetry, he isn’t referring to physically eating people, but to the way on the leaders suck the life out of people with their lifestyle.

and 3: 5-6 [The Message]

Here is God’s Message to the prophets,
the preachers who lie to my people:
“For as long as they’re well paid and well fed,
the prophets preach, ‘Isn’t life wonderful! Peace to all!’
But if you don’t pay up and jump on their bandwagon,
their ‘God bless you’ turns into ‘God damn you.’ 

in the rest of chapter 3, Micah continues of speak of the evil of the leaders of Israel, and the punishment that awaits the nation. 

chapter 4 changes tune completely, and there is an image of the restoration of God’s rule, a place where people learn Gods ways, where there is no more war, where people who grow food get to eat.  

In chapter 5, we hear of a new ruler who will come from Bethlehem, another country town of no importance, just like the one that Micah lived in. At that time the powerful and the religious leaders were based in Jerusalem, not some country outpost. A new ruler who will be the one of peace. For the people who first heard these words, Bethlehem was associated with David,  the great King, the one who was King when Israel was undivided, when Israel was in its golden age. Bethlehem was also not part of the establishment in terms of the seat of power.  For the people who first heard this, both points would be important, the new ruler will come from the house of David, and the new ruler will not be part of the oppressive and corrupt regime that ruled from Jerusalem. 

Then we get to chapter 6.

Sections of this book are written as a court case with God as the prosecutor and judge, with the creation as witnesses, against the people. God is challenging the way the leaders are treating the people. Here in chapter six, God is asking -  what have I done to you? why do you treat me and my people like this? then again we hear of Gods activity in the history of the people, the foundational story of the exodus, and the saving action of God.

in verses 6-7, there is this cascading of sacrifices. will God be pleased with a burnt offering of a yearling? – this refers to the standard offering mentioned in Leviticus.

Or maybe to please God I need to be overly and impossibly extravagant – 1,000 rams?

10,000 rivers of oil?

my fist born?

One commentator suggests that this is sarcasm – God is having a go at people who are trying to outdo each other in their sacrifices. another suggests that God is pained by the excess. Either way, this is poetry and there is probably some poetic licence in here.  The people Micah was relating to, would also be aware of child sacrifice in nearby places – so these sacrifices or offerings to God may be outrageous, but not all are impossible.

But God isn’t interested in wealth, certainly not at the expense of the poor and the hungry, nor in child sacrifice.

Looking around the world today we can think of plenty of places where corruption flourishes, countries which require a payment or bribe to get approval for a project; countries where people are oppressed by a wealthy or powerful elite; places where life is cheap, expendable, where people are bought and sold in the open.

Micah was saying that God sees, God knows, God cares and God responds. Sometimes it is hard for us to see how God is responding to some of the situations we see unfolding before us.

Yet many of us will be able to tell of a time when we have felt a touch from God, when we have felt comfort in a difficult time. God is not unmoved.

so the question becomes in what ways does God generosity, God’s grace, God’s forgiveness, Gods salvation show in our lives? 

[the Message Micah 6: 8]

“But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously—
take God seriously."

---

[i] Rev Dr Anna Grant-Henderson  http://otl.unitingchurch.org.au/index.php?page=micah-6-1-8

Who will you serve?

Where does the speech of Joshua we just heard take place?

Shechem: if you need to, look up Joshua chapter 24 in the Bible.

what else has happened there?

Genesis 12: 1-7  call of Abram

Genesis 33:   18 – 20 [ 33: 1-16 Jacob and Esau reconcile ] Jacob buys a plot of land at Shechem

Genesis 35: 2 – 4  buried false gods under the tree at Shechem.

(for more information on this see http://otl.unitingchurch.org.au/index.php?page=joshua-24-1-25 

many times the people of Israel rehear the story of their history. what is different about this story?

generally Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but in this chapter of Joshua's we go back to Terah, the father of Abraham and Abraham's brother Nahor is also mentioned.

this story takes place where Abraham and Jacob also travel, both building an altar to the Lord. And at the end of this passage we heard from Joshua again uses a large stone to witness the choice of the people, in this very same place.

Joshua had outlined the history of the people of Israel, and it starts with long ago your ancestors: even though he then mentions Terah and his sons: Abraham and Nahor, it also includes those who lived before then. The Lord through Joshua, is reminding the people that  their ancestors worshipped different Gods.

This place is also significant because it is the place where other gods, and the images of other gods, were buried by Jacob. And here we have Joshua asking the people who they will follow, which God will they worship, which God will they serve.

Genesis chapter 12 is where we hear the call of Abram to leave his father's home and to take his animals and his family and go to the land that God will show him. And God shows him the land of Canaan and tells him that his offspring will have that land. In Joshua 24 we read about Abram and Jacob and Esau, and we hear of Moses and Aaron and the people getting out of Egypt, we hear of  the time when they lived in the wilderness, and we hear of  all the different groups they fought. Joshua is telling the people of Israel that God has fulfilled his promise to Abraham.

For many of us, as modern readers, we find some of these passages in the old testament difficult. Most of us no longer talk about God leading us into battle against a foreign army, though we do still hear that language at times. This was a different time. People looked for, and expected to see, the hand of God at work in every situation.

This event occurs in a significant place for the people of Israel, Joshua outlines the history for the people, and then says to them: “decide today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors worshiped in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

When Joshua asks the people whom will you serve, he is asking about worship and life. The people had been in slavery, they had to serve their Masters in whatever way the master wished. Now they are being asked to choose who they will serve: Pharaoh, one of the gods of their ancestors, or the Lord the God of Israel.

Joshua took a large stone and set it up under the oak in the sanctuary of the Lord, as a witness against the people. A reminder of the pledge they had made.

reflection: Whom Will You Serve?

from Spill the Beans

Throughout history, people have served a variety of gods. We hear of the Lord's involvement throughout the history of the world; from creation, to liberation from slavery in Egypt, to the humiliation of the exile, the warnings of the prophets to live lives of Justice and peace, the birth and death and resurrection of Jesus, the one whose life shows us most clearly what God is like, the one whose teaching inspires us, and the travels of the early Christians.

What might God say to us?

Just to as our ancestors recorded in the Bible, set out to worship and serve the Lord, some time ago a group decided to start a church, in a new and growing suburb. They were blessed with leaders who helped the church to grow, and who built spaces to worship and meet, and spaces for the community to gather. the people  worshipped, witnessed, and served the Lord. and God blessed them. And there were difficulties, and pain, and celebrations.

What might God say to us?

From your birth, I have loved you.

Throughout your life, I have been present with you.

I have brought you out of slavery,

slavery to guilt,

slavery to greed,

slavery to Pharaoh  in whatever form that takes in your life.

This is the God who defeats sin in your life,

who overcomes your fear with love.

Who will you serve?

Will you serve the God of market forces?

Will you serve that God of astrology?

Will be serve the God of popularity?

Will you serve the God of shame?

or Will you serve the God who has loved you and offers you freedom and liberation?

if you respond as the people of Israel did to Joshua “we will serve the Lord for he is our God”

I bring you a challenge:

        this God is not one to be trifled with,

this God knows your heart,

this God expects all of your life, not just part of it.

So I ask you again:  who will you serve?

Are you sure you want answer as the Israelites did to Joshua: I will serve the Lord for she is my God”

Are you willing to forsake all other gods,

are you willing to be laughed at,

are you willing to be considered out of step with the rest of society,

are you willing to stand up for that which is right

even when it is unpopular and dangerous?

For this Christian life is no easy path.

Unlike the people of Israel who were responding to Joshua, we have forgiveness through Jesus Christ, we do not fear that God will smite us.

But we are still asked to respond with every fibre of our being and every second of our life.

So I ask you again: who will you serve?

[place a large stone on the communion table]

Who will you serve?

time for reflection